angelic doctor 832 angel stopped it. Are we amazed that in a space of three days seventy thousand of David’s subjects were killed as a punishment for the presumption of the king?32 An angel killed [them]. Are we amazed that over one hundred and eighty five thousand men were cut down in the camps of the Assyrians in the course of only one night?33 An angel cut [them] down. Next, who saved the younger Tobias from being devoured by the monstrous fish?34 An angel. Who protected the same [young man] from the most cruel accomplice of hell?35 An angel. Who restored light to the eyes of his father?36 An angel. And truly that terrible rider, who struck down to the ground Heliodorus, the invader of the divine treasure, was not anyone else but an angel.37 Also those two young men, who attacked the sacrilegious robber and inflicted him with sufficient blows, are not thought to have been anyone other than angels. What more should I remind you of? I would run out of daylight and voice to speak sooner than I could enumerate the examples and testimonies. I say, in a word, that all miraculous works are angelic, and all angelic works are miraculous. And hence, if we wish to demonstrate the doctrine of St. Thomas to be angelic, it follows that it will be proven by us that [this doctrine] is miraculous. And certainly it is. For besides the fact that [Thomas] acquired it beyond all the powers of human diligence, it is this that is especially to be admired: that it is praised, loved, and approved by all the Doctors, Academies, Councils, and finally by the whole of the true Church. It is thought that the speech of Marcus Tullius38 had a certain allure, by which he always drew to his side both the senators as well as the equites and the Roman people. The doctrine of St. 32 Cf. 1 Chron 21:14-17. 33 Cf. 2 Kings 19:35. 34 Cf. Tob 6:2-4. 35 Cf. Tob 6:14-17. Tob 8:1-14. 36 Cf. Tob 11:7-15. 37 Cf. 2 Macc 3:23-28. 38 This is the orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Cf. Arnaldi, Francesco, art. Cicerone, Marco Tullio: EI X, 200-205.
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